How to upgradereplace the main drive in a 2012 mac mini. It remains apples last properly upgradeable mac mini, and even in 2019 can be a pretty handy little computer with the right bits inside. Owc hard drive installation kit for 20112012 mac mini lower drive. The practical effect was always hotly contested but it doesnt really matter since trim for 3rd party drives is supported in sierra. List of the best ssd drives for mac to buy and upgrade your mac in 2018. Owcs stepbystep video of how to install a hard drive in the apple mac mini 2012 with model id. This is the top hard drive flex cable with sensor for the mac mini a47. There is a power supply within the unit, so the power cord is simple and does not require a bulky brick supply used with earlier models.
Best ssd for macbook pro, air, imac or mac mini 2018. Bend the ribbon cable 90 degrees at the ssd connector so that it is parallel to the connector. The complete diy upgrade kit to add a second drive into your mac 20112012. Ssd for mac mini late 2014 a47 mgem2lla, mgen2lla, mgeq2lla. It is recommended that in a 2102 mini the ssd be in the lower bay one nearest the bottom access cover since some usrs have experienced problems with an ssd booting when installed in the upper bay. So theres obviously a problem to get good performance with software samplers. Jun 14, 2017 the 2012 imac has a 128gb sata ssdits write speeds are limited by its low capacity, but the read speed is roughly indicative of where sata ssds were in 2012. In my case it was a mac mini late 2012 model, with the original drive being in the lower position ie.
How to upgrade aluminum mac mini hard drives or ssds everymac. They are a hackers delight, in the true sense of the word. Buy products related to ssd for mac mini products and see what customers say about. Upgrading the boot drive on my mac mini to an ssd drive was by far the biggest speed enhancement ive experienced on any computer. I have a late 2012 quad core i7, 16gb mac mini with a 1tb hdd and have found it quite slow.
Differences between late 2012 and late 2014 mac mini models. Works great to add a secondary drive to a mac mini. Ssd for mac mini 2012 need second opinion ask different. Installing mac mini late 2012 dual hard drive kit ifixit. This issue affects only late 2012 mac minis that come with a mini specific build of os x 10. You can install the original drive in the lower slot, and the then erase it.
In this video, i swap the hard drive out in a late 2012 mac mini. For the 2010 models this is the standard hard drive cable. Drive thats on the top when the mini is turned upside down to open it. Regular mid2010 aluminum unibody mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2. The tools worked to take everything apart and get access to the bracket to install my ssd in the upper position. Owc 500gb electra 6g ssd diy upgrade bundle for 2011, 2012 mac mini, includes data doubler, 5piece installation toolkit 4. The 2012 mac mini uses 1600mhz ddr3 sodimm modules and can accept up to 16gb across two slots. If yes, can i avoid this problem by installing the ssd in the lower drive bay and moving the original hdd into the upper drive bay. The factory ssd at least in my case was in the lower bay, which means closer to the bottom of the mac mini when it is sitting on a desk. Jan 11, 2018 get the best ssd for macbook pro, air, mac mini or imac. Mac mini late 2012 hard drive replacement ifixit repair. Switching to an ssd could give a mac mini a new lease of. Ive done about a dozen mac mini to ssd upgrades over the past few years but ive only owned a logic board removal tool for my latest upgrade.
Can be risky, and its easy to break something inside. The mac mini takes the ivy bridge to fusion town new cpus, usb 3, and optional fusion make for a nice shiny package. Here well walk you through breathing new life into your old mac for not a lot of money. So the best you can do is grab a 16gb kit made up of a pair of 8gb sticks. Running out of storage space in your mac mini or looking to improve performance with an owc ssd. How to give your 2012 or 2014 mac mini a performance boost. For the 2012 model this is used to add a 2nd drive. Mar 02, 2020 are you still using an old 2011 or 2012 macbook pro. Sata is also used to connect the internal optical drive or drives your mac pro comes with. Both lines could be configured with a hybrid drive which combines a traditional hard drive and an ssd together to offer the capacity of a hard drive with performance closer to an ssd but it became a default on the late 2014 mac mini core i5 2. Its a bit of a perfect storm, but its worth noting if youre adding an ssd as a second drive in your mac mini. A fusion drive is a bit trickier as you have to completely disassemble the mac mini to install two drives in it. When you have it upside down to disassemble it, that means you would take the original ssd out first, and it is actually not inside the bracket that comes with the mac mini. Enlarge image heres how you check to see if the trim command is running on.
I recently acquired a mac mini the late 2012 model. I thought about replacing 1gb internal drive with two 750gb 7200rpm drives. I put in an ocz vertex4 512gb ssd and it ran great. The speed boost an ssd provides over a hard drive is certainly worth the effort for. I began using it mainly as a media centerserver but find im often also using it as a real computer. Fortunately, there is a quick way to increase the performance of an old mac upgrading the internal hard drive to ssd solidstate drive. Owc hard drive installation kit for 20112012 mac mini lower drive bay. Nov 21, 2018 regular mid2010 aluminum unibody mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2. Tilt the mini enough to allow the bottom cover to fall away from the outer case. Just wondering if anyone has had any success in installing an crucial m4 256 gb ssd in a mac mini 2. How to speed up your mac with a solid state ssd drive. Replace the optical drive in your mac with the data doubler and an owc ssd, and increase capacity. Mac mini late 2012 add 2nd internal hard drive or use.
The speed increase is incredible almost hard to believe. Mac mini late 2012 hard drive replacement ifixit repair guide. Installing a ssd as boot drive in mac pro macrumors forums. Youll see read speeds around 430mbps and writes in the 350mbps range.
Switching to an ssd could give a mac mini a new lease of life, but at the same time it seems. Xbench scores show that if you install hard drives in either the top or the bottom position. Place your thumbs in the depressions cut into the bottom cover. The 2012 model of the mac mini quadcore has a removable discshaped panel on the bottom, which allows for easy access to upgradeable components, such as ram. The fusion drive option for the 2012 mac minis can cause some severe data loss if youre not careful. Im just looking to replace my stock 5400 sata hd i. As of today sept 11th, 2016, this is the current mac mini available 2014 version. As many of you probably know, apple decided to put 5400rpm drives in new mac models. Rotate the bottom cover counterclockwise until the white dot painted on the. I love my macbook, but well, when its starting to show its age, its not that speedy anymore. With the most recent post from treekram about trying to tell if the drive is in the upper or lower bay through the disk utility tool, i cant find the right. Whatever your use of the mac mini, be it media server or desktop computer, the one upgrade that will make the biggest impact is a ssd.
Feb 29, 2020 besides adding an ssd, the next best thing to do to give your old mac mini some additional legs for presentday computing is to add more ram. Aug 10, 2015 swapping your mac minis optical drive. Vin 0120 reply the most difficult part of the process, as mentioned is fitting up the antenna platter again. The boot drive selection screen of the mac mini, showing the original drive, a time machine drive, and the replacement ssd select the external ssd to continue the booting process from the new drive. Ive got a new mini and am planning to go with option c and simply make the external ssd my boot drive systempreferencesstartupdisk i dont know when you intend to get your mini but by then apple may have more affordable ssd options for the mini, or at least there may be more affordable external usb3thunderbolt ssd drives out by then. Tkd 1tb ssd hard drive replacement for macbook air pro 11 15 a1502 a98 a1465 a1466 late 20, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 mac pro a1481 mojave 5yr warranty. How to add a second ssd for a mac mini 2012 ios insight. Storage apple mac hard drives, ssds ssd for imac late. Buy an external usb3 ssd, plug it in, and set it up to be the new boot drive. And though 2012 imacs anything with a fusion drive and any 27inch model had m. Add a second drive to your macbook, macbook pro or mac mini.
The bottom line is that, in order to prolong the life of your ssd, you need to make sure trim is running on your mac. How to install a second drive inside a 20112012 mac mini with the. How to give your 2012 or 2014 mac mini a performance boost by replacing the hard drive. In my system the only way to get an ssd drive ocz agility 3 120g to work. Sep 03, 20 serial ata, or sata, is the backbone of the aluminum mac pros local data storage interface. Genuine service parts for your mac machine including all macbook pro parts, imac parts, macpro parts, xserve parts, macbook air parts. Want amazing new performance out of your old mac pro.
There are many options in upgrading a mac mini, and. Ramcity the samsung xp941 provides classleading storage performance in desktop machines and is also fully bootable in all cmp mac pro models 2006 2012 no reason to be tangled by contradictions. Installing mac mini late 2012 dual hard drive kit ifixit repair guide. Mac mini late 2012 hard drivessd installation video youtube. Later mid2011 and 2012 unibody mac minis lack optical drives. Get everything you need to upgrade your 2012 mac mini server ssd for a total system performance and capacity boost. How to give your 2012 or 2014 mac mini a performance boost by. Boot time went from 60 seconds to under 30 seconds, and applications launch instantly no bouncing dock icon. The 2012 mac mini held a special place in many hearts thanks to how easy it was to upgrade. Inside your mac pro are four sata bays, each of which can accommodate a 3. Its up and running, but its fairly slow, and im certain that its performance is related to the slow 500 gb hdd it came with. Owc hard drive installation kit for 20112012 mac mini lower. Theres no obvious reason that your wd blue ssd wouldnt work.
I did on my mac mini late2012 using ifixits dual drive kit. How to upgrade aluminum mac mini hard drives or ssds. The apple mac mini has a loyal fan group around the world. Use this guide to install ifixits dual hard drive kit in your late 2012 mac mini.
Rotate the bottom cover counterclockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom cover is aligned with the ring inscribed on the outer case. Dec 21, 2017 id like to get an opinion on whether adding an external ssd to my late 2012 mac mini would show a great improvement in speed. How to upgrade the 2012 mac mini for use in 2020 imore. The hard drive is mechanical, and so im thinking of either upgrading the ram 4gb or the hard drive. Rotate the bottom cover counterclockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom. I also have a later imac and ill admit, im jaded when i compare experiences. How to install os x on new hard drive on a late 2012 mac mini. I want to add in a 2tb ssd as my 1tb hdd is almost full but the cost for the 2tb is quite high. How to upgrade your mac mini with an ssd 2019 updated.
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